Training
by Allviran
Summary: Link stops to take a short break on another one of his stressful journeys, but he does all but rest on this break.


Training

It seemed that Link had to remind himself every five minutes why he was on another Save-The-World mission. He had done it so many times; it was as if he was just doing the same thing over and over. He was set out and had to go complete some task, but along the way he would find some obstacle that forced him to take another path. Finding that the other path was a dead end, he would have to go all the way back to overcome the original obstacle.

And that was where he ended up. He was back on his way to the original obstacle when a thought crossed his mind. It was a strange thought and just thinking it Link felt almost… dirty. He could not understand why he had not thought of it before. He wanted to sit down and take a break.

Link found a rock off to the side of the dirt path he walked. It did not look all too comfortable, but Link was too tired to care. So he took a seat on the rock.

Resting his heading the palms of his hands, Link slowly closed his eyes. He was able to hear so many new sounds he had not been paying any attention to before. He could hear them before, but now he could _feel_ them. The birds chirping, the rustle of the animals in the bushes, the wind blowing lightly through the trees, someone getting attacked…

Link jumped up. If there was one thing he learned from his many adventures, it was the sound of someone getting hurt. Being the hero that he is, Link's first thought was to go and help whoever was getting attacked. So he ran towards the sound without a second thought.

As Link jumped through the bushes and stumbled over the grass, the sounds of swords clashing and cries for help grew louder and louder, almost hurting his ears. He knew he was getting close and almost- just almost- began to worry about what he would do once he finally found what he was chasing.

Link's feet came to a halt as soon as he entered a clearing among the trees and shrubs. Standing almost directly in the center, Link saw a man.

His back was turned to Link, and maybe he did not realize that Link was ever there. His focus was on the bushes, a sword held in his hand. The blue patch of hair atop his head almost clashed with his well built body, and his clothing showed all sorts of worn.

Link followed this man's line of vision to see exactly why he was staring at the bush. In the bush, link could see what looked to be a shoed foot just barely poking through the  
twigs and leaves. But he was unsure as to what it really was, so Link took a few steps closer, making sure he remained quiet.

The few steps did not help all that much, but did reveal to Link another thing matching the first one. This was enough to confirm that the man was looking at another person in the bush- dead no doubt.

A tiny gasp escaped Link's mouth. He again looked to the blue-haired man, then to his sword. "There is no blood…" Link whispered to himself.

Link noticed a shift in the mans hand, then in his waist. Slowly looking up his body, Link realized that he had drawn the man's attention to himself, and they were staring each other eye to eye.

The man smiled. "Hi."

Link straightened his back and took a deep breath. He made all attempt to hide any emotion he was feeling from writing itself across his face. "Hello," Link replied calmly.

The man shrugged and looked at his sword. He looked around the clearing for something he could say that would break the silence, when a moment of thought struck him and he knew just what to say.

"I'm Ike," he said. He held out his sword-less hand and extended it to Link.

Link showed puzzlement on his face, however approached Ike nonetheless. "Link," he replied, steadily shaking Ike's hand.

"So what brings you here, Link?" Ike asked.

Link took a quick peek at the still feet in the bushed, then back at Ike, hoping Ike had not noticed. "I heard yelling," Link replied simply.

"Yeah, Sleeping Beauty over there can make quite a bit or noise when he is getting his butt kicked," said Ike with a tiny laugh.

"Sleeping?" Link repeated.

"Ha, yeah. I think he actually may be out for a little while this time. If he isn't up yet, he probably won't be," said Ike.

"So you were just training with that guy?" Link somewhat hesitantly pointed to the bush.

"Oh yeah. We train with each other all the time. Why," Ike took an extra tiny step towards Link, his expression changing. "What did you think was going on?"

Link took a much larger step away from Ike. "Nothing," he lied.

"You're lying," said Ike.

The grasp Ike had around his sword tightened and all of a sudden, Ike flung himself at Link, his blade leading the way.

A glint of the metal in Link's eye told him he was in danger and quick thinking was in store. So he drew his own sword from its sheath and held it in a guarding position before him.

The two swords clashed, and both swordsmen fell back. A smirk found its way across Ike's face, causing a light of seriousness to cross Link's. The swordsmen came at each other again, metal clashing and the wind blowing. Each more they made increased in skill, as if they were testing the other's abilities. They easily followed each other's footsteps and movements.

Ike had taken an extra step that Link had not quite anticipated. This left Link open, and Ike went in. With the back end of his sword, he thrust into Link's stomach, sending Link flying backwards.

Link landed hard on the ground. He sat up, holding his aching stomach, his sword had been thrown at least a yard away. He knew that if anything came out of it, well, at least he tried.

Ike took two slow and small steps toward Link. He smiled a victorious smile, fully aware that he had won for the second time that day.

"Well?" Link demanded. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come and finish this?" Link tried to sound serious, but due to the pain in his chest, his words came out in parts, just barely choked.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ike, covering his concern with a chuckle. He approached Link with a sense of patience masking emergency.

Link tried to stand up, but fell back over and groaned. "Why don't you just kill me?"

Ike smiled. "I don't want to kill you, Link. I was just testing that sword of yours, is all. It looked very worn." Ike held out his hand. "Here, let me help you up," Ike offered.

Link raised his hand to meet Ike's, but instead of taking it, Link smacked it away. "I don't need your help," Link growled.

"Take it easy." Ike kneeled down next to Link. "I'm not going to hurt you. See?" Ike flung his sword into the bushes. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Well you accomplished that anyway," Link complained. He glared directly into Ike's eyes, hoping Ike would see and understand his frustration and pain.

Ike stared back into Link's eyes, hoping Link would see that there was nothing to worry about. He had no intention to hurt Link. In fact…

Link jerked his head back. "You're too close."

Ike had not quite realized that he had slowly been leaning his face closer to Link's. All he really wanted was a closer look at those… beautiful… eyes. But when Ike did begin to realize, a wide grin spread across his face.

"What are you smiling at?" Link demanded.

Ike leaned closer and closer, and Link continued to lean back until he was laying in the soft grass and there was no further he could go.

"I was just admiring the way the sun shines in your eyes," said Ike.

"What?"

"Hell if I know."

With that, Ike flung himself on top of Link and kissed wherever he could under Link's squirmy body.

Link tried to struggle himself free, but Ike had both of his arms pinned to the ground, and not to mention Ike was laying all over him. With some strange happening, Link had wriggled himself out of his tunic.

Ike pressed all of his weight into Link's injured abdomen and whispered in his year, "Keep squirming. I like that."

A rustle came from a bush somewhere behind. In it, a man by the name of Marth rubbed his face. His arms and legs were covered with bruises and scratches, and twigs with leaves entangled his perfect blue hair.

Sitting up, Marth's hand brushed by an intenstly sharp piece of metal. As the blood slowly dripped from his fingers down his arm, Marth realized this was not his sword. It belonged to Ike. But what was Ike doing with out his sword, Marth thought.

Through the bushes, Marth heard what he believed to be Ike's moaning. Peeking carefully through the bush, Marth quickly found his assumptions to be correct, for he discovered a nude Ike laying on top of another man.

Marth shook his head in disbelief. No way was Ike just having sex with another man. Or possibly he did not want to believe it even though it was happening right before his eyes. Wait… Why was Marth watching anyway?

Marth rubbed his eyes, hoping it would all go away when he looked again. Now Ike had flipped the man over… And everything was still happening.

With his bloodied hand, Marth grabbed hold of Ike's sword and steadily pulled it towards him. Fearing his legs would give out on him, Marth carefully pulled himself to his feet. Praying Ike would not hear him before he wanted to reveal himself, with one swift movement, Marth stepped out of the bushes.

"Ike!" Marth yelled after gathering up some courage.

Ike immediately jumped to his feet, Link closely mirroring. They both wore expressions of frustration and embarasment, and neither of them seemed to notice that they were totally nude (or they just did not care).

"I thought you were still out," said Ike. A smile slowly lifted his face. "So you have been working on that."

"Yeah, I have," Marth replied. "I see you have been working on your… rape scene."

Ike's face changed again to show his feelings of not-very-well-hidden anger. However, he had nothing to say, no comment to reply with.

Link too wore this face as he jumped in front of Ike and said to Marth, "What if it wasn't rape? What if I liked it?"

Marth and Ike's faces contorted to a mix of shock and confusion. They looked from each other to Link, and then back again. Link, in turn, looked around the clearing, refusing to make eye contact with the prince or the mercenary. He barely noticed the green of the trees and shrubs, or that fruits were growing and flowers were blossoming, though; his hard stare was misleading. His vision circled around once or twice before he noticed a lighter shade of green hiding among the branches and leaves. That was when he remembered he was not wearing any clothes.

Ike and Marth watched intently as Link found his way up a tree and disappeared behind the leaves. There were a few rustles in the branches, then a few unintelligible grunts. No more than two minutes later had Link hopped from the tree, fully clothed.

Link rubbed his stomach where Ike had hit him. He looked from Marth to Ike, nodded to each, and ran off without a single word.

When Link was entirely out of sight, Marth refocused his attention on Ike. "Get dressed," he commanded, throwing Ike his sword.

Marth blinked awake. 'That was the weirdest dream I have ever had' he thought in the darkness. With a sigh, he rolled over and cuddled as close to Ike's sleeping body as he could and drifted peacefully back to sleep.

Ike's eyes slowly opened. "That was the weirdest dream I have ever had," Ike said to himself in a whisper. Sudden sadness fell over him as his hands searched his bed. Upon touching something soft, his expression again lifted. He pulled the blond-haired doll to his chest and turned around. "Good night, Link," he whispered to the doll before falling back to sleep.

Link's eyes opened with shock. 'That was the weirdest dream I have ever had,' was the first thing he thought. He found himself sitting on a rock to the side of a dirt path. Standing quickly, he remembered his mission. "Oh yeah," Link said aloud. "That's why I don't take breaks."


End file.
